title: The correlation between dysmenorrhea and the pain experienced during laser ablation of a cervical lesion.
abstract: Twenty women undergoing colposcopically directed laser evaporation of a cervical intraepithelial neoplastic (CIN) lesion were recruited. Using a linear analog scale they scored the pain associated with a normal period when not using contraception. Under standardized conditions and without any analgesia or local anesthesia their transformation zone was ablated to a depth of approximately 6 mm by an independent operator. Pain was assessed 10 min after the procedure by the same technique as that used for the measurement of dysmenorrhea. There is a direct correlation (r = 0.7) between the discomfort of dysmenorrhea and discomfort at colposcopy. This allows the operating colposcopist to predict which patients are most likely to experience discomfort during laser evaporation of a cervical lesion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. James's University Hospital, Leeds, England.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Crompton
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Parker
mesh_terms: D004412:Dysmenorrhea / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*